On Fashion

Introduction

Fashion refers to a manner of doing something or a style of appearance. "Manner" suggests strictness, "style" is more flexible and creative.

Fashion is all about understanding size and how clothes fit your body. Size refers to your physical measurements—like how tall or heavy you are. Fit helps those sizes look good on your body. If you’re small, you wear small clothes. If you’re bigger, you wear larger ones.

The key difference between a good fit and a bad one is whether the fit of the garment guides the eyes to the person's face. What I mean by "whether the fit of the garment guides the eyes to the person's face" is matching your body measurements with the clothes you wear. Some things depend on personal taste, like how some people don’t like ketchup on white rice or won’t like creases at the bottom of their pants. These preferences are partly about silhouettes—the shape created by your body and the clothes you wear.

Shirts

Let’s start with shoulders. Most t-shirts have a “T” stitching pattern. The top of this “T” should sit right on your shoulder’s collarbone or just slightly after it (about ½ inch). For width, your shirt shouldn’t have more than 2 inches of extra fabric that you can pinch with one hand while standing.

For length, the bottom of the shirt should end just above your hips, covering your belt if you wear one. For long-sleeve shirts, follow the same rules except for sleeves. Sleeves should end about a quarter inch after your wrist to leave room for accessories like watches or bracelets. This way, the mystery of the wrist can stand out instead of showing the whole hand.

Pants

Pants follow the same basic rules as shirts. If they’re too tight or too loose, they can draw attention away from your face.

The waist of your pants should fit so that you don’t need a belt to keep them up. To me, belts are mostly for looks—they help separate the top half of your body from the bottom half. Unless you’re in a situation where your pants might get caught on something, a belt is more about style than holding up your pants.

Just like how wearing a shirt that matches your skin tone can make you look naked from far away, some people think pants without belts can have the same effect. Whether you choose to wear a belt or not depends on your personal style and what you’re trying to achieve with your outfit.

For waist measurement: Your pant fit should be that you can slip your index finger under where the belt buckle would go, but it shouldn’t be too hard to get your finger in there. This helps keep your pants from sagging.

The width of pants depends on the outline you want to create. Whether you’re wearing a belt or not, they should stay up. For slim people, slimmer pants like tapered, slim, or skinny styles look best. For others, regular, straight, or relaxed styles match better.

Whether you’re big or small, nothing besides your face should stand out. Your body creates the silhouette, and your clothes outline it.

Color

Color matters a lot. Too much of one color or shade can make your outfit look flat or boring. Green is an eye-catching color, but wearing too much green doesn’t highlight your face—it makes the clothes stand out instead.

Finding the right amount of color means avoiding overdoing it. If you use too little color, nothing will pop, and if you use too much, the outfit loses its appeal. The key is to understand where your face fits in the picture—above your waist.

Since our waist naturally divides our top half from our bottom half, the colors we choose should reflect this balance. Your upper body (clothes above your waist) should be lighter in tone than your lower body (pants or shorts). Darker shades like dark blue, dark green, or dark brown work well for bottoms because they create a natural separation.

Lighter shades, like white, gray, or light blue, are great for the top half because they contrast nicely with darker bottoms. This balance creates a clear outline and separates each part of your outfit from one another.

One thing to watch out for: if your clothes match your skin tone too closely, it might look like you’re not wearing anything or that part of your outfit is see-through.

Materials

Finally, when it comes to materials: cotton is better than man-made fabric (like polyester) if the fabric touches your skin. If you’re wearing layers, man-made fabric is okay on top, but cotton is always best for the layer touching your skin.

Casual Footwear

The best casual shoes are leather sneakers. Period. Any other shoe marketed for walking or leisure that’s not made of real leather is just trying to trick you. For casual shoes, Margom soles are the best choice. When it comes to leather quality, Horween leather is top-notch and widely recognized as the best.

Now, let’s talk about materials. Polyester might seem convenient, but it doesn’t last longer or feel better on your skin—it just wears out faster every time you wash it. Leather, on the other hand, is natural and regenerative. It doesn’t need to be washed often; instead, you clean it with a brush and condition it to keep it soft.

There are different types of leather: vegetable-tanned leather, genuine leather, and even “plastic-based” leathers (which aren’t real leather at all). None of these compare to high-quality leather made from actual animal hide.

When it comes to sizing, use a Brannock device to measure your foot length and width. But here’s the thing: different shoe lasts (the molds used during manufacturing) can change how shoes fit—even if you have the same size and width. So, it’s hard to know for sure how a sneaker will fit just based on measurements.

For leather shoes, they should feel snug but comfortable—like your feet are getting a cozy hug. You should also be able to slip at least one finger between your heel and the back of the shoe for proper room.

Physics

Our eyes are naturally built to notice movement more than stillness. If something moves but blends into an area with too much of the same color, we might not pay attention to it unless there’s a darker or lighter shade that stands out. Animals like alligators, mountain lions, and snakes use this trick too—they stay still to hide and only move when they need to hunt.

The same idea applies to accessories we wear. Since our eyes are drawn to movement, anything that moves with us as we move is more noticeable. When you turn sharply in one direction, your accessories naturally follow the motion of your body.

This is an introductory guide, not a comprehensive one. Nonetheless, it should be a good starting point.